Why I Can’t Listen To Charles Hamilton

Remember when Talib Kweli got clowned because there were rumors that he was punched by his girl at 50’s crib? That was just a rumor! Hamilton’s KO was caught ontape. Any rapper in the world: Jay-Z, 50 cent, Weezy, or TI. It doesn’t matter. If a punch is landed solidly on your face by a female, you will get clowned. It is a fact of life which Hamilton unfortunately experienced head on.

The J Dilla episode was kind of awkward. When a beloved hip-hop figure passes away, usage of said figure’s name will have to be sensitive and careful. And that’s fair. Remember the negative response that Mase caught when he claimed credit for some of Big L’s famed punchlines? Obviously not the same as the Dilla naming, but Hamilton went ahead and put Dilla’s name on his album even though the man had nothing to do with the actual production. He claimed that Dilla inspired the album. That’s very nice, but Dilla’s name should have belonged in the more reserved manner of the “Thanks” section, and not as executive producer. Even just a Dilla tribute song would have been fair. I think people took the exec naming as cocky and delusional.

The Eminem letter seems to have flown under the radar, which is maybe for the best. It was very Stanish. Some people clowned it, but others seem to have realized the cry for help. Hamilton saw some of himself in Eminem, in that both are loners who have struggled mightily in this age of cameras and critics. The difference is, Eminem has sold close to 100 million albums. Regardless, Hamilton’s cry for help seemed to go unanswered by Em, at least publicly.

Then came the wheelchair, and the institution. At this point, Hamilton reached an area where no rapper had been before, as fans and critics seemed a bit perplexed as to the heights that Hamilton’s oddities had reached. For most people, including myself, the clowning stopped once this guy committed himself. That’s some serious shit. And the funny thing is, through it all, Hamilton continued to put out music. Most of it good, from what I hear.

For me, and I think most others, it didn’t matter if it was good. I couldn’t shake the image of this crazy guy. Good music is good music, sure, but on some level you need to be able to respect the artist. And it’s not that I don’t respect his craft (his barbershop rhymes were good, but his appearance rendered it all meaningless), I’ve just become uneasy about listening to what a man of this disquieting nature has to say. Is that fair? I’m writing about dude because he’s in that rare territory where I recognize that he has special talent and he’s supposedly putting out good music, however, I don’t want to listen to it because his character and personality have become too alarming to me.

On some level, it might be similar to R. Kelly, when Funkmaster Flex said he would no longer play his music, due to Kellz’s alleged abhorrent behavior with underage girls. That I can understand. Terrible character shouldn’t be rewarded. But Hamilton doesn’t have a bad character. He just has an awfully kooky one. Maybe too kooky.

I rock with Cage. I think Tech is incredible. And when Em goes into maniac mode I eat it up. But CH and his behavior have gone awry in the sense that his character makes me uncomfortable, to the point where I just don’t want to hear what he has to say. Whether it’s because he’s cocky or crazy, I have no interest, no matter how dope his drops may be. Am I wrong for that? Help me out here XXL readers. — Shlomo
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Before you wrote this article did you know he has been homeless for a few months now? Probably not

What serius did was equivalent to walking up to a random homeless person and then clowning them for how they look… smh

Yeah CH has done a lot of questionable things in the past, but end of the day, none of that reflects how good or bad the music is and it never should. If a rapper is wack and he saves the world tomorrow, that doesn’t change the fact that their music sucks or if a rapper is dope and he goes and murders 100 people, end of the day, his music is still dope. An artist’s life is one thing, but music is music and that’s all it should be.

TJCombo

he was homeless after he was released from the asslym?

Sincere

Real shit… and how does the author equate Serius laughing and not benig able to spit more than 2 bars consecutively to an “ethering” of CH…

kedordu

its hyperbole . everyone was laughing at him . dummy . serius jones destroyed him .

kedordu

you know its a publicity stunt .. how can he be homeless ? its by choice . why are people making excuses ?? bad excuses at that ? i dont get it .

Words of Wisdom

Also if you are annoyed by an artist’s actions as a human, then simply ignore them rather than report on it because at the end of the day THAT is what they want. For example, CH was the one who released that punch video, why? because its PUBLICITY and in the world of entertainment, there is no such thing as negative publicity. So if you want to really fight an artist when they become annoying, then simply ignore them. See “Operation ignore charles hamilton” by J.Smooth.

WonderJenks

UGH…Ima StarCHaser, you guys probably don’t even know what that is. CH is probabaly the best thing that happened to hip hop in a minute , dude can freestyle(off the top) like he did against Jones in this battle, that shit wasn’t written. He can Produce, and sample his ass off, and finally he raps about meaningful things rather than fucking hoes and how many wipes he got/had/wants. So fuck if you disagree, dude is raw talent the type of talent you wouldn’t find even if you were searching, because it’s that rare you meet an artist who possess these abilities, and did i mention he can just about play any instrument? Fuck all you haters, CH is musically better than anybody your listening to.

T

The author of this blogger is an idiot, riding Serius’ dick TOO hard. Legendary? I’ll laugh as hard as Serius did in that barbershop at that OVERstatement.

http://www.staleface.com @ChanningsWorld

“Idiot” I totally agree. Serious is FAR FROM LEGENDARY!

http://www.facebook.com/TJDetweiler TJCombo

I was a Big fan of CH at a time, but sometime between his My Brain is alive mixtape release, and is shelving of his album and dropping from interscope. the dude really fell off. not so much fell of, but he just makes music i cant really get down with or relate to anymore. the last mixtape that i liked since is crazy antics was the Normalcy mixtape, which kind of announced his return. but so far all the other mixtapes since then have been either to weird for me, or too wack. i use to think when he first came out that he was waaaay ahead of his time or at least the rap games time plus. i liked that he was into sonic like me. i even thought that he would be the rumored “Hip Hop Jesus” (i think J.coles got it now). But now, i jus think hes an oddball who wears pink and wants to rap. i check from time to time on his long list of mixtape releases on wikipedia to see if his recent shit is worth the listen, but my hopes always get shot down. he would have bin my favorite rapper. But i guess things happen when you get even an ounce of famous. you might get signed, you might get dropped, you might start pointless rap beefs. or you might even get punched in the face on camera by a girl.

http://www.staleface.com @ChanningsWorld

Serious is just a bunch of punch lines. Granted they are funny, but it’s really not that difficult to rhyme one line at a time with a minute pause between each to get laughs. Serious is great entertainment, but that doesn’t make his lyrical ability stand on the level of CH.

I’m not a CH fan by any means, due to the fact that this is probably the first time I’ve heard him rap (that I can recall).

I don’t keep up with all of the gossip and all of the other nonsense. Music is music and I agree with Words of Wisdom in the last paragraph of his statement.

Also, don’t put it past a woman to punch a man. I haven’t seen the video you speak of, but stating its embarrassing to be punched by a woman is crazy – it’s embarrassing to get punched period.

TJCombo

ok. serius jones freestlye was maaaaad wack! he was jus raggin off how ch looked i hope charles comesback wit some good shit soon!

Words of Wisdom

Also one more thing, everyone keeps bringing up the punch…… Would you have preferred if he punched her back? Everyone keeps talking about that punch, when they should be talking about how CH was a real man by not putting his hands on her for that, but nobody cares about that, right?

End of the day, CH is dope and has A LOT of music out, not every song is amazing, but he has more dope music that he dropped in 1 year than other artists have dropped their entire career.

If that kid ever gets back on his feet, I guarantee he will shut a lot of people up because I feel like many people have forgotten about how dope he can be (See Normalcy or Pink Lavalamp).

comeondog

why-i-cant-listen-to-charles-hamilton ? because he’s wack as hell , and gay

bombshell

wait. I do not understand, because he looks weird he sucks at rapping? so let me get this straight to be a good rapper it does not matter about your bars? it matters how you look? Serius dropped 2 at most maybe 3 bars every 50 seconds? and charles hamilton i dont think he stopped and went on for what 2 or 3 minutes? but yet 10 bars that were pretty funny owned him? ok i got this hip hop is trashed and no one cares about lyrics anymore? seriously get off his back on how he looks, it does not matter, what matters is how dope is bars are, which in turn make charles hamilton still one of the dopest out.

Mitch 3K

I feel Kinda bad for the kid to be honest, reminds me of one of those kids in high school that gets picked on every day, sitting in the back of the clasroom eating worms and cutting himself up with an exacto knife.

Scary thing is I dont expect the CH story to have a very happy ending, and thats why its not funny. Everytime I hear summin bout this kid it just gets worse and worse, now they sayin dude is homeless, SMH

People in this world are cold blooded, if this kid were to wind up Killing himself or somebody else, thats when people will act like they give a fuck but it’ll be too late. Someone needs to get that kid checked back into a hospital or summin, my opinion on it.

He’ll Be Fine

Don’t worry, he’ll be fine, he’s currently in the process of getting back on his feet… He’s album is actually coming to stores in early 2011 and that’s a guaranteed statement too, you’ll see!

quest420

He’s in jail now………..Is he still dropping in 2011?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gl6joVmiSSE these posts are racist

The kid needs guidance…this is a tragedy in the making….

click the name for a dope freestyle over common’s 6th sense beat.

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

Yo TPAR

Is that you in the grind time battle Locksmith vs. Dizaster?

Son you murder him in every round!

Son what made you go from law school to rap?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USnvVJThdk0 these posts are racist

What up homey…no, I’m a different Locksmith. I offered to battle Cali Locksmith for the rights to the name, but he never responded. I started out as a battle rapper…went to law school and now rap for the love. I’m still a lawyer…I’m from Chi homey…been rappin’ since i was a shorty.

Click my name and peep a few of my freestyles. I’ll be putting up more soon.

Sincere

Heroin is a hell of a drug…. i just hope the kid isn’t back on it with all the criticism and shade thrown his way. Charles keep your head up you beat it once you can do it again.

http://www.bboycult.com Don mcCaine

C’mon shLomo…

You can’t listen to Charles because of all of his image ethers? That’s like saying you don’t drink Coca-Cola because you don’t like the color of the label or how it looks…did you even taste the soda?

you ain’t even name SONGS that didn’t fit you music taste…

#blogfail

The Spaniard

CH got ethered? I should have done myself a favor and stopped reading at that point.

Hannibal Cannibal

The guy who wrote this article is a serious dickrider. First you can tell that CH is didn’t write anything beforehand because he is describing what Serius is doing as he does it (sitting down on some cocky crap, for example) the kid is actually nice off the head. So is Serius but in this clip, he’s just ragging on him, the job already half done, cuz the whole barbershop, his people, are already laughing, All he has to do is make them laugh more. Frankly to call anyone here legendary is crazy. Does Serius even have an album out, let alone a classic. What part of the game is this? This writer obviously has some backroom beef or love for someone here and decides to dickride one and hate on the other. This write up is so flawed, who knows what you’re looking at. But judging by the comment section, I can tell Im not the only one who feels that way. Bring back hip hop enough industry politix and bullshit

Hannibal Cannibal

The guy who wrote this article is a serious dickrider. First you can tell that CH is didn’t write anything beforehand because he is describing what Serius is doing as he does it (sitting down on some cocky crap, for example) the kid is actually nice off the head. So is Serius but in this clip, he’s just ragging on him, the job already half done, cuz the whole barbershop, his people, are already laughing, All he has to do is make them laugh more. Frankly to call anyone here legendary is crazy. Does Serius even have an album out, let alone a classic. What part of the game is this? This writer obviously has some backroom beef or love for someone here and decides to dickride one and hate on the other. This write up is so flawed, who knows what you’re looking at. But judging by the comment section, I can tell Im not the only one who feels that way. Bring back hip hop enough industry politics and bullshit

detroit

nall serius aint got no albums out but he said legendary battle rapper have yall seen this guy battle one of my favorites after lux who might be the best battle rapper thats black IMO

Worley

“And it’s not that I don’t respect his craft (his barbershop rhymes were good, but his appearance rendered it all meaningless), I’ve just become uneasy about listening to what a man of this disquieting nature has to say.”

Folks, read that sentence and let it seep in. CH’s first “verse” was definitely on point, but most of what CH said was lost on everybody. Serius laughing, chicks in the back that couldn’t STFU, CH’s odd appearance, etc. All of that put CH in a losing position from jump. Serius had a few good jabs but that was about it. I wouldn’t say Serius murdered dude. He was just on his home turf in a place that CH had no say. Let them go at it in neutral territory. We at least owe CH that much.

dome shot

the problem with today is that music is so intrinsically linked to personality worship. back in the day musicians where allowed to put out great music, go home beat on thier wives or push up on that heroin without the public knowing (and this is the important one coming) giving to swiss shits.
CH kept going on and on and on. Serius left the building. thats a loss in any street battle – remember when dude runs away from biggie in that battle?(admittedly after been lyrically man handled by chris wallace).
the notion that serius was caught unawares is beside the point. it’s called a battle, not a prearranged brainstorming session. i’ve seen dudes get battled whilst on a date. and who gives a fuck what the kid was wearing, have you seen some of the outlandish shit andre was rocking off stage. but that weirdo still outraps your favorite rappers favorite( you probably rock skinny jeans). clothes dont make a man. And men shouldn’t be stylist for other men. thats gay.
you mention CH got dropped from interscope but fail to mention Serius’ expulsion from DTP. That’s called a direct bias.
i’m not by any means a CH fan, in fact i was rooting for Serius, but i’ve been into this life shit way too long to let personality prefrences determine whats what. no one got ethered. it was mildly entertaining as far as battles go and their subsequent ‘diss’ joints prove it.

dome out.

Q461

Its a shame whats going on with him, cause Charles Hamilton really is a dope rapper with alot of promise. Yall know Kool Keith was institutionalized too?

That being said rappers are exposed more than ever these days. Not like Charles music because of these things is like not liking Weezy cause he kissed baby, Ross cause he is a CO, Game for the change of heart shit and so on. Good music is Good music to me regardless of dudes personal issues

ANTHONY BLACK

YOUR A FUCKING IDIOT. CHECK YOUR FACTS.

THIS BLOG ENRTY IS FULL OF TOOOO MUCH BULLSHIT TO EVEN GET INTO.

“even though the man had nothing to do with the actual production.” way to listen buddy

ANTHONY BLACK

entry*

CHsamples

-______________________-

who ever wrote this is seriously an idiot

yellalike

Are you kidding me. Charles Hamilton doesn’t even have a plan when he wakes up in the morning and he is still at a more elite level then most mix tape punks. And don’t even get me started on this no name Jones character. If all he can bring to the table is some tween jokes about CH’s outfit, then he better set up camp in that barber shop and live there because rap aint about wearing an XXL t-shirt and droppin the N word every time you have nothing else to say. It’s about creativity shown through your lyrics, attitude, and appearance and Charles is on another level.
CH all day

popopo

terribly written entry. check facts. I seriously doubt you still write…